If there is one thing that's stood out to me from our current readings, is Hobbes's sheer pessimism and that men (human beings in general), are selfish by nature. "If any two men desire the same thing, which nevertheless they cannot both enjoy, they become enemies; and in the way to their end (which is principally their own conservation, and sometimes their delectation only,) endeavor to destroy, or subdue one another" (p.158).
We can see this happening throughout history such as the conquests of Rome and also in that of Hitler.
Do you agree with this? Are humans truly selfish? Are there any modern examples of this happening?
Also Hobbes believes that one must enter a social contract and submit to a sovereign with absolute authority in order for there to be peace and stability, because of the selfishness and barbarism of man. While we don't submit to a singular sovereign due to the separation of powers, we do submit to the laws and government of the United States. Consider this, if we were to break away from Hobbes's social contract (in other words, the United States government), what do you think would happen? Do you think there would be peace without the need of government or do you think we can handle ourselves?
Yes, I believe that Hobbes's thoughts about humans being selfish by nature is very true. I am speaking of humans as a whole. Of course there are always some people who are more selfish than others it is like that when you talk about anything. But as a whole the human species is very selfish. We tend to go after what is best for ourselves and what will benefit ourselves in the end the most. I would even say that humans are selfish in groups of people. Such as Democrats verse Republicans or The United States verse another country, typically these groups are selfish in that they tend to only take their beliefs and thoughts into account instead of the beliefs of the other groups and do whatever they can to make sure things are the way that they want it to be whether it be the best for everyone or just themselves. I do not believe however that breaking away from the US government has any correct answers in it at all. Having some sort of structure or stability is a good idea and the government in a way, although still it has many issues has a way of providing that structure and stability that we need.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your first past, I think humans are probably inherently selfish, but I think most importantly, if we were to live in the state of nature as Hobbes describes it, that it would be competition, along with selfishness, that would turn every man against every man. In Hobbes' state of nature, every man is out to require the resources necessary to survive. Since those resources are wanted by all men, men would do whatever necessary to acquire those resources, which induces direct competition between men.It is this competition for resources that I believe would lead every man to be against every man.
ReplyDeleteFor your second part, I think in the absence of government, it would be very difficult for us in the United States to handle ourselves. For one, we can barely handle ourselves now with a (kind of) functioning federal government. However, one thing I would be interested in seeing is where the current political passions you see in people today would go in the absence of a real government. This country is often divided by political parties/issues, and without those dividing factors in place in a stateless society, I would be curious to see if we as people in this new stateless society could actually get along better without all these political issues dividing us. I actually think a society without government could have the potential of promoting cooperation with each other for the benefits of the whole of the community (whatever the community may be).
I have to disagree with Hobbes view that men are selfish in nature. While there are many examples of men being selfish, there are many examples of men being cooperative in nature. We have seen through history that coming together has more benefits than working alone does. Like others have pointed out, many corporations are selfish entities. I think Hitler and the Roman conquests were examples of how things can go wrong when one leader has absolute control over a government. When this happens, power can go to the leaders head. Modern examples of this happening are CEO's doing the best for themselves.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your second part I think life would be a lot harder if we were to break away from the U.S. government. Many people don't realize it but we are more dependent on the government than we were in the past. The scope and power of the government has grown to exercise power over things such as regulating disputes, enforcing contracts, and providing vital services. Without a government authority corporations would be able to do pretty much whatever they want. Think of unregulated industries that are allowed to raise prices substantially.